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We are indeed living in more comfortable homes. Americans are migrating to the sunbelt because of ample AC in the summer and the winters are pleasant. that’s a

by setgree 9mo ago

We are indeed living in more comfortable homes. Americans are migrating to the sunbelt because of ample AC in the summer and the winters are pleasant. that’s a big part of why we have many fewer heat deaths per capita than Europe: https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/2025/08/02/opinion-us-heat-death-prevention/ https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/2025/08/02/opinion-us-heat-...

Aurornis 9mo ago
You don’t realize how nice it is to live and work in air conditioned spaces until visiting a part of Europe where AC is viewed with disdain for reasons I still don’t understand. Also the move to electric heat pumps is increasing electricity rates but reducing natural gas usage and improving overall efficient. The GP comment was trying to do snarky doomerism but accidentally hit upon a lot of truths. It’s amazing how many things are getting better but some people are hell bent on being cynical about it anyway.
- some-guy 9mo ago
  I’m not from Europe but those sentiments I think are changing with the recent intensity and frequency of heat waves.
- buckle8017 9mo ago
  > You don’t realize how nice it is to live and work in air conditioned spaces until visiting a part of Europe where AC is viewed with disdain for reasons I still don’t understand. Most of Europe is poor. AC is expensive. It's actually that simple. There's AC in Switzerland.
  - Leherenn 9mo ago
    > There's AC in Switzerland. Not at all, it has one of the lowest rate in Europe along with the UK. It's very hard to get the building permit required to install one. Portable AC has had a boom those past few years though (because it doesn't require a permit).
  - kyboren 9mo ago
    I have lived and worked in Switzerland. My office (shared with 2 other people) was the only space in the entire floor with AC due to some obscure archaic reason. That air conditioning worked great for years, but a few months before I left that position, the facilities management people suddenly came in and ripped it out. No justification given. Thank God TPTB didn't notice I had AC for all those years; it really would have been miserable without it. But despite the misery I noted all around me, there was an extremely strong disdain for air conditioning that permeated the culture. When I talked to friends and colleagues about the AC situation I was regularly ribbed for being a gluttonous American wasting electricity on such a triviality. They were legitimately proud to suffer. Baffling. I've come to the conclusion that most Western and Central Europeans--yes, including Swiss--have a masochistic superiority complex around AC. They see suffering without AC as core to the European identity and sweating it out in unproductive misery (or taking a whole month off of work) as virtuous. They willingly kill thousands of people and leave hundreds of millions more in misery every year simply to feel superior and European.
adventured 9mo ago
Europe is so backwards when it comes to annual heat deaths that they manage to have more heat deaths per year than the US has gun deaths + heat deaths combined. You won't hear about that from Europeans though, it'd make them seem barbaric. 175,000 heat deaths per year in Europe according to the WHO. It's a staggering genocide of technological primitiveness. Imagine having millions of people die because you can't be bothered to adopt 1950s technology (and of course I'm aware of the things the US is backwards on).
- rdn 9mo ago
  Can their pension system afford A/C?
- rpdillon 9mo ago
  You sent me to the books because this is such a fascinating stat. It's true! Heat deaths in the US: 5 per million people. Italy: 500+ per million people. I had no idea.
  - CorrectHorseBat 9mo ago
    I do think we'll need to change our view on airconditioning, every home should have airconditioning just like it has heating. But I'm very sceptical of those numbers. They are apparently even worse for cold, and you can't attribute that to lack of airconditioning. I still think the huge difference can only be attributed to a difference in reporting.
    - irishcoffee 9mo ago
      Which way? For all we know the numbers are much worse and under-reported by Europe. China made the playbook for that a long time ago. Cuts both ways.
      - CorrectHorseBat 9mo ago
        What has China to do with this? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence doesn't cut both ways.

by setgree 9mo ago

Aurornis 9mo ago

You don’t realize how nice it is to live and work in air conditioned spaces until visiting a part of Europe where AC is viewed with disdain for reasons I still don’t understand. Also the move to electric heat pumps is increasing electricity rates but reducing natural gas usage and improving overall efficient. The GP comment was trying to do snarky doomerism but accidentally hit upon a lot of truths. It’s amazing how many things are getting better but some people are hell bent on being cynical about it anyway.

some-guy 9mo ago
I’m not from Europe but those sentiments I think are changing with the recent intensity and frequency of heat waves.
buckle8017 9mo ago
> You don’t realize how nice it is to live and work in air conditioned spaces until visiting a part of Europe where AC is viewed with disdain for reasons I still don’t understand. Most of Europe is poor. AC is expensive. It's actually that simple. There's AC in Switzerland.
- Leherenn 9mo ago
  > There's AC in Switzerland. Not at all, it has one of the lowest rate in Europe along with the UK. It's very hard to get the building permit required to install one. Portable AC has had a boom those past few years though (because it doesn't require a permit).
- kyboren 9mo ago
  I have lived and worked in Switzerland. My office (shared with 2 other people) was the only space in the entire floor with AC due to some obscure archaic reason. That air conditioning worked great for years, but a few months before I left that position, the facilities management people suddenly came in and ripped it out. No justification given. Thank God TPTB didn't notice I had AC for all those years; it really would have been miserable without it. But despite the misery I noted all around me, there was an extremely strong disdain for air conditioning that permeated the culture. When I talked to friends and colleagues about the AC situation I was regularly ribbed for being a gluttonous American wasting electricity on such a triviality. They were legitimately proud to suffer. Baffling. I've come to the conclusion that most Western and Central Europeans--yes, including Swiss--have a masochistic superiority complex around AC. They see suffering without AC as core to the European identity and sweating it out in unproductive misery (or taking a whole month off of work) as virtuous. They willingly kill thousands of people and leave hundreds of millions more in misery every year simply to feel superior and European.

adventured 9mo ago

Europe is so backwards when it comes to annual heat deaths that they manage to have more heat deaths per year than the US has gun deaths + heat deaths combined. You won't hear about that from Europeans though, it'd make them seem barbaric. 175,000 heat deaths per year in Europe according to the WHO. It's a staggering genocide of technological primitiveness. Imagine having millions of people die because you can't be bothered to adopt 1950s technology (and of course I'm aware of the things the US is backwards on).

rdn 9mo ago
Can their pension system afford A/C?
rpdillon 9mo ago
You sent me to the books because this is such a fascinating stat. It's true! Heat deaths in the US: 5 per million people. Italy: 500+ per million people. I had no idea.
- CorrectHorseBat 9mo ago
  I do think we'll need to change our view on airconditioning, every home should have airconditioning just like it has heating. But I'm very sceptical of those numbers. They are apparently even worse for cold, and you can't attribute that to lack of airconditioning. I still think the huge difference can only be attributed to a difference in reporting.
  - irishcoffee 9mo ago
    Which way? For all we know the numbers are much worse and under-reported by Europe. China made the playbook for that a long time ago. Cuts both ways.
    - CorrectHorseBat 9mo ago
      What has China to do with this? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence doesn't cut both ways.